I’ve really been getting great feedback from so many of you on my posts about leadership stories in our multi-unit restaurant community.

Thank you to those of you that have given me the great feedback. I am very grateful to be able to get the opportunity to do the work I do, and it really makes me happy to hear that many of you are enjoying these little vignettes that have been popping out of my head lately.

I meet so many great leaders in our industry. For me, that is the best part. The people. Not just our leaders, but all of our community. The people that work so hard every single day to make our customers happy.

So many of you are doing such amazing things, and many of your important efforts and stories get lost in the noise of our daily twitter feeds. And so, as I feel moved by many of these great stories, I want to continue to re-purpose the hard work of the leaders in our community, to re-enforce their great work. To create more celebration, more learning, more visibility.

In keeping with this spirit, I want today’s spotlight to focus on an amazing leader that I have been fortunate enough to get to know through our industry conferences over the years. I have been learning more about the career of Louis Basile, the CEO of Wildflower Bread Company and the more research I do, the more I learn about how amazing he really is. He makes it all about people, all the time. Louis has a true ability to connect with people. He inspires. He builds belief systems. He makes the impossible actually possible. He pays attention. He gets things done. He gives ALOT to our industry.

Louis is an entrepreneur. He understands that we are in the hospitality business. He observes, he engages, he looks at you, he listens. Louis is one of the best communicators out there. He is passionate, thoughtful, kind, generous and works hard every day at being a great leader and person. He has vision. He dedicates his life energy to things that he feels are important. He wants to make a difference. It’s genuine.

I decided to write this post today, because I found this great video presentation that he did awhile back, not on any purposeful project, but just by browsing our industry trades.

I believe, like all great leaders, that Louis Basile is a lifelong learner. I love that about him! He tells you like it is, pushes your limits, but does not ask anyone to do anything that Louis himself would not do. He is a student of all things living. All things important. At the same time, he will never admit it. He’ll call bulls**t on you every single time; every single time. I’ve seen it with my own eyes, experienced it on the receiving end. He does it because he cares. He cares with all his heart.

I have had the great pleasure of experiencing Wildflower Bread Company, but even more pleasurable than that, for me, is the time that I have had with Louis in conversation, debate and consideration on many of life’s issues. He has given me great advice over the years, and knowing what I know about Louis, the advice he gave me is only one of hundreds of little advice nuggets he gives out every single day. To people. People who need it. Because he connects. He has intuition. And he does it because he cares. That’s why he shows up for so many people.

My favourite part of my job, is that I get to meet and spend time with some really great leaders like Louis.

Thanks a lot Louis! Great talk in the video above. Really made me want to celebrate you in my blog. Thank you for all you do for our industry. I hope you are ok with me getting this out there. You deserve to be celebrated!